Full body harnesses are widely used for lifting and lowering individuals in dangerous situations and as a primary component in a personal fall arrest system. It can also be used for work positioning, travel restriction, ladder climbing, rescue retrieval and evacuation. While these harnesses are used mainly in an industrial setting, and particularly the construction industry where the likelihood and danger of falls from heights is both numerous and significant, a full body harness can be used in various other applications in which total suspension and support of the body must be ensured, either expectedly or unexpectedly.
Various full body harnesses are shown on page R-4 of the 1997 Rose Catalog. These include the Tradesman.TM., Vestype.TM. and Pullover.TM. Harnesses. Such harnesses typically include adjustable shoulder straps which can be guided in a crossed fashion through a pad formed on a rear part of the harness which is worn on a person's back and is often called a rear pad or back pad. The shoulder straps continue forwardly over the shoulders and adjustably attach via a pair of metal rings called buckles to a seat strap upon which the hindquarters of the wearer can rest and be supported. Two leg straps are adjustably attached to the seat strap at a separate location via a second pair of metal rings to support the legs of the wearer.
The Pullover.TM. Harness is more particularly shown and described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,712,513. This harness does not require the pre-adjustment of numerous elements to a particular individual but can be adjusted simply and quickly with a single adjustment for practically all sizes of individuals for which the harness is intended.
While all of the above-mentioned harnesses meet the applicable safety requirements, it would be desirable to simplify their construction and lower their manufacturing cost without reducing the quality and versatility of these harnesses.